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k1ngkr1sten's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
nailat's review
2.0
Well, shit, this turned into a hate read. I can't explain it, I read it within two sittings but my reactions were so visceral. I'd find my face scrunched up like a badger and my whole body would be tight. Was this book written by an MRA? Has feminism gotten so convoluted with sex positivity that it has to exist as a seasoning of misogyny? And when has sleeping with a controlling, gaslighting man ever been subversive? Because this is absolutely how this main character framed it. Only giving it two stars because I'm a voyeur that likes to read smut.
anders_holbaek's review
4.0
"How would I know what kinds of things were good? I had only been trained in what to avoid. No one had explained it to me very well - what mattered. My friends and I were raised without real religion and without a comparable ethics of living through which to filter our beliefs and ambitions. [...] Often we did not have the jobs we dreamed about, but more often we were not quite sure what we should dream about. It was no longer defensible to build a life around acquiring money, goods, or status. We were taught to value love yet not to rely on it too heavily, because the world of excessive freedom in which we had been made would not foster the long-suffering loyalty that love required. We were encouraged to care deeply about the state of our world but our ability to affect it personally was very much in doubt."
Det er svært at beskrive, præcist hvad det er, Acts of Service handler om. Taget i betragtning af, at stort set hver eneste scene i bogen enten indeholder nogle, der har sex, eller filosoferer over sex, er det fristende at sige, at den handler om sex og begær. Og det er langt hen af vejen også korrekt. Men mere nøjagtigt ville jeg mene, at den - som titlen indikerer - handler om, hvad vi gør for andre, og hvad vi gør for os selv, hvorfor vi nogle gange gør det ene og nogle gange gør det andet, og hvordan det får os til at føle og se os selv. Og så er sex bare lige det tyngdepunkt, man har valgt at lade de spørgsmål kredse om, eller den linse man ser dem igennem. Og Acts of Service tør gå langt med de spørgsmål, den stiller.
Så den udforsker begær, men det udforsker lige så meget selvbillede (og privilegie og etik og fantasier og selviscenesættelse), i den sammenfletning, som de ting måske altid vil eksistere i. Den er vidunderligt Rooneyesque, bare at der er blevet skruet ned for klassekampen og op for (den meget eksplicitte) sex.
"In general, we were told that the distance between desire and obligation had been closed in the preceding decades, but everyone seemed to agree that the absence of obligation would not free us. Most of all we found ourselves believing in complexity. This paradigm had some merit; it allowed us to avoid extreme states of dogma and ignorance, like militarism or participation in pyramid schemes. But it also easily justified lethargy. Looking around at the moral compromises baked into every choice, it sometimes seemed as though inertia was the least objectionable course."
Det er svært at beskrive, præcist hvad det er, Acts of Service handler om. Taget i betragtning af, at stort set hver eneste scene i bogen enten indeholder nogle, der har sex, eller filosoferer over sex, er det fristende at sige, at den handler om sex og begær. Og det er langt hen af vejen også korrekt. Men mere nøjagtigt ville jeg mene, at den - som titlen indikerer - handler om, hvad vi gør for andre, og hvad vi gør for os selv, hvorfor vi nogle gange gør det ene og nogle gange gør det andet, og hvordan det får os til at føle og se os selv. Og så er sex bare lige det tyngdepunkt, man har valgt at lade de spørgsmål kredse om, eller den linse man ser dem igennem. Og Acts of Service tør gå langt med de spørgsmål, den stiller.
Så den udforsker begær, men det udforsker lige så meget selvbillede (og privilegie og etik og fantasier og selviscenesættelse), i den sammenfletning, som de ting måske altid vil eksistere i. Den er vidunderligt Rooneyesque, bare at der er blevet skruet ned for klassekampen og op for (den meget eksplicitte) sex.
"In general, we were told that the distance between desire and obligation had been closed in the preceding decades, but everyone seemed to agree that the absence of obligation would not free us. Most of all we found ourselves believing in complexity. This paradigm had some merit; it allowed us to avoid extreme states of dogma and ignorance, like militarism or participation in pyramid schemes. But it also easily justified lethargy. Looking around at the moral compromises baked into every choice, it sometimes seemed as though inertia was the least objectionable course."
rachelc978's review
4.75
I couldn’t even tell you why I’m withholding that 0.25 of a star, but I bet Nathan could tell me why I am.
The writing in this was so tasty, so chewable. Also why is Eve just such a sexy name?? Just call me Adam or some shit for reeaaallll
The writing in this was so tasty, so chewable. Also why is Eve just such a sexy name?? Just call me Adam or some shit for reeaaallll
gabrielleint's review
3.0
Oh god, like, I don’t know. It was good? It was readable. It had interesting things to say it seemed but then it also kind of said nothing? I need to know more about Olivia. I think this book would be best read in one sitting because I was gripped by it in my first reading session but not in my second. Also the deposition part made me mad because both lawyers were doing a bad job and the lawyer defending Eve didn’t register any objections and at one point told Eve she didn’t have to answer something that she 1000% did need to answer because it wasn’t privileged and it was a deposition. I would have pushed back on it and certified the question, which plaintiff’s counsel annoyingly did not do. Like I get that it was a book and was being used to push the narrative forward and like it’s fine if an author is not a lawyer—I just don’t want to read bad depos in my leisure time because I do that enough at work. Also the author did not put quotation marks around people talking and I hate that kind of thing. It made it impossible to tell what characters were just thinking versus saying out loud a lot.
kaylananci's review
4.0
more like 4.75. i loved this all the way up until the very ending and then i was a little disappointed. but this was sooooo messy and i ate it tf up
kimbermorgan's review
1.0
DNF after 75 pages. I found these characters insufferable to try and read. I can understand the intrigue of this book but no one speaks to people the way these characters speak to each other. They are all fiercely unlikeable.
I was expecting a book that explored sexuality and queerness and I guess it is that? But in a really disappointing way.
I was expecting a book that explored sexuality and queerness and I guess it is that? But in a really disappointing way.
mollyhee's review
3.0
What did I just read? I really wasn’t expecting for Nathan to be the actual main character.
georgiacadman's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0